Time in Tbilisi: March 29, 2024 02:15
A special meeting is taking place in occupied Abkhazia tomorrow where Georgian officials and de facto Abkhazian leadership will sit down for the first time in four years and discuss conflict issues, including the murder of a Georgian man near the Abkhazian Administrative Boundary Line (ABL).
Tomorrow representatives of Georgia and de facto Abkhazia will take part in an International Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting, held in Gali for the first time in four years.
The IPRM meetings were established as a peacekeeping tool that allowed conflicting parties to discuss issues face-to-face however the meetings were suspended in April 2012 after the Abkhaz side refused to participate.
Tomorrow’s meeting will allow see officials from both sides to discuss security concerns in and near the occupied region. Furthermore, tomorrow the Georgian side will seek to confirm whether the de facto authorities have detained the border guard who shot and killed 31-year-old Giga Otkhozoria last week.
Giga Otkhozoria's funeral ceremony took place today. Photo by Ministry of Refugees.
Abkhazian media stated the border guard had been arrested however Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Reconciliation and Civil Equality said they did not have confirmed information that the border guard responsible for the shooting had been detained.
Meanwhile Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze said Georgia has already appealed to Interpol to launch and international search for the alleged killer of Otkhozoria. He said Georgia was now waiting for an official response from Interpol - the world’s largest international police organisation with 190 member countries.
Otkhozoria was on Georgian-controlled territory when he was gunned down by Russian-controlled border guards stationed near the ABL with breakaway Abkhazia about 2.30pm on May 19. Otkhozoria was shot six times, including once in the face. He was rushed to hospital but died soon after.
On May 21 Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced the individual who shot Otkhozoria had been identified.
That same day video footage was released which showed Otkhozoria retreating from a confrontation with the guards when he was shot.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has today travelled to western Georgia’s Samegrelo region to personally grieve with the family of a young Georgian man who was killed near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia region from the rest of Georgia on May 19.
Georgian law authorities have asked the court to impose pre-trial detention in absentia for the border guard who shot and killed a Georgian man near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia region from the rest of Georgia on May 19.
The United States (US) has condemned the brutal murder of a Georgian man near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia region from the rest of Georgia.
Georgian authorities have uncovered the identity of the border guard who shot and killed a Georgian man near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia region from the rest of Georgia.
Georgia’s two highest officials have spoken out about the killing of a Georgian man near the de facto Abkhazia; with one saying his death was "merciless” and the other saying it was unacceptable barbed wire fences were installed on Georgian territory.
Russia has denied any involvement in the brutal murder of a Georgian man near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia region from the rest of Georgia.
A Georgian citizen has been shot six times and killed by Russia's border guards patrolling the area between Georgia and breakaway Abkhazia region.
Georgia is demanding a Russian-controlled border guard who shot and killed a Georgian man near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia and rest of Georgia to face a Georgian court of law and be punished for his actions.
Almost three weeks has passed since a Georgian man was gunned down near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia and rest of Georgia but the border guard who fired the fatal shots has not been apprehended.
Georgian officials have sat down with de facto Abkhazia leadership and European mediators for the latest round of the Geneva International Discussions, which ended poorly when the Russian and de facto sides walked out of the meeting in protest.
UPDATED: 5.10pm
The Military Court operating in Georgia’s de facto Abkhazia region has imposed a sentence of home detention on the border guard who shot and killed 31-year-old Georgian man Giga Otkhozoria on May 19.
Special envoys representing Georgia and Russia met today in Prague, Czech Republic, for the latest round of talks between the two nations.
An American official within the US Bureau of Europe and Eurasian Affairs believes the ongoing conflicts in the South Caucasus and Moldova are extremely detrimental and continue "to stunt human potential and damage lives”.
Minister Paata Zakareishvili told media that Georgia asked the de facto Abkhazian authorities to hand the border guard over to Georgia to be tried for his crime however the de facto side refused this request.
De facto Abkhazia is still refusing to transfer the border guard who brutally killed a Georgian citizen near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) to the Georgian side to face charges.
The Government of Georgia has gifted a new home in west Georgia to the family of a man who was brutally slain near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating Georgia from its occupied Abkhazia region.
Hundreds of residents of Gali in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia are opposing the closure of the Administrative Boundary Lines (ABL) connecting Abkhazia with the rest of Georgia.
The United Kingdom (UK) condemns the imminent closure of several crossing points along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between occupied Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.
The government of Georgia has once again raised the issue of handing over the murderer of Georgian citizen Giga Otkhozoria at the 52nd Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Gali, in occupied Abkhazia.
The 84th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) has been held in Ergneti, in the village within Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The representatives of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region have left the Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting today in protest as delegates from the government of Georgia refused to remove the Giga Otkhozoria’s murder case from the agenda.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry released a statement today, expressing concern over the destructive actions of Russia that “seriously undermine” not only local meetings on conflict issues, but also the Geneva International Discussions.
Representatives of the de facto governments of Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) continue to raise objections to the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list, which sanctions individuals for the violation of human rights in the regions, at the local Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings, representative of the State Security Service of Georgia Irakli Antadze has stated.
Members of the de facto leadership of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) from Georgia’s Russia-occupied region say that they will continue the erection of illegal barbed-wire-fences, which is strongly condemned by the central Georgian government.
The 99th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) held in Ergneti, close to the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region earlier today, focused on issues ‘pertaining to stabilisation and normalisation’, the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has announced.